The Hawaiian gazette., 1887-04-26

An extraordinary ADMISSION was
wormed out of Michiels in the case
before the Supreme Court the other
day. It was side issue in the case,
bat it was one which had a very dis
tinct bearing upon the manner in
which things are carried on in this
country.
Michiels sued the Hartford Insur
ance Company for his insurance on
his stock, which was burned last Au
gust. In order to show the value of
that stock, Michiels stated that he had
some very valuable laces. How he
became possessed of these laces was
not clear to the defendants counsel,
and short cross-examination showed
that they had been brought into the
country without passing through the
Custom House, in point of fact that
they were Struggled.
Now it will be in order for the GUS
toms authorities to proceed against
Michiels for smuggling. His sworn
testimony is before the Court that he
did pass these valuable laces into the
country without paying duty, and the
question for the Custom House to fer
ret out is, how did he do it? How
was it possible for him to bring into
the country and dispose of in his store
articles of such value without the Gus
toms authorities taking cognizance of
the fact? We can well remember that
Michiels had the laces publicly for
sale, and can remember ladies com
menting on the excellence of the
stock. The customs authorities must
have been very remiss in their duties,
if what was matter of public notoriety
did not get to their ears, and they
ought to have been well aware that
the goods had not paid their proper
quota to the revenue of the country.
1t is said, and the statements made
on good authority, that the laces were
passed through the Custom House
under cover of belonging to parties
who were exempt from paying duties.
Who these parties are is clearly stated
ON page 1876 of the Compiled Laws:
mo impost duty shall be levied on goods
or other articles for the use of the Govern
ment or of the King and Queen =
goods imported for the private use and con-
| sumption of foreign diplomatic representa-
tiyes."
OF course, if the above mentioned
laces were passed into the country as
belonging and being the property of
the above, the Custom House author
tiles would be cleared of blame. But
any one who did pass laces through
the Custom House as his private prop
erty, which were afterwards to be put
upon the market was making himself
party to fraud, for which, if possible
he should be punished.
This is a matter which the Cham
Der of Commerce might well take cog
nizance of. The traders here pay
heavy licenses and heavy duties, and
it is an outrage upon them, if official
immunity from duties is used as a
cloak to permit one of their number
to import goods without paying Gus
toms dues and thus to enable him to
undersell all his competitors in trade
There is something very rotten
about such a state of affairs. We
have heard of brides being given for
licenses, but it begins to appear that
brides are given and received for
other things as well; that few yards
of lace, judiciously placed, will buy a
''frank" through the Custom House
and enable man to defraud the rev.
enue of the country with IMMUNITY.
This affair should not be allowed
to rest, but should be thoroughly in
vestigated and those implicated be
pilloried at the bar of public opinion.
even though they cannot be touched
by the law.